To check out all my archived Thanksgiving recipes, flip through the PW Thanksgiving Recipe File. I have all the basics there: turkey, gravy, dressing. Watch for many more holiday-friendly dishes here in the coming days and weeks.

Before I continue with this unbelievably flavorful and decadent Thanksgiving recipe, let me assuage your fears: I am not trying to kill you. No, I’m not. NO, I’m not, despite what you might think. I LOVE you. I would never try to kill you. You must believe me, despite all the cream and butter I’ve used in my recipes lately.

Let’s talk about turnips. Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive, people—they are SO underrated. Turnips are a root vegetable, right along with carrots, celery root, rutabagas, and parsnips, and while they might somewhat resemble potatoes in color, texture, and circumference, once you take a bite of this dish, you’ll seriously wonder why turnips haven’t swept more Thanksgiving tables than they have. Not to malign our beautiful lover, The Potato, but I think turnips are just so much more special.

They’re probably really good for you, too. But to avoid snickers and jeers from the crowd, I won’t EVEN touch that one.

This is Gruyere cheese. It’s kind of like a cross between Parmesan and Swiss. Think a hard Swiss…with a rind.

It’s ten kinds of good, is what it is.

These are turnips. They’re kinds of like gigantic radishes, but not really. If you serve them this Thanksgiving, people will oooh and aaah and be impressed.

Let’s start by peeling the turnips.

I just use a carrot/vegetable peeler and take off the outer skin as I would an apple.

I always have little contests with myself to see if I can keep the peel in one piece. And if it drops off and breaks, I’m a loser.

Don’t pretend you don’t do things like that, too.

Now grab as many garlic cloves as you can handle…

Then smash them with the bottom of a glass.

The cloves should pop right out.

Then you can chop ‘em up really finely.

I should admit to you right now that I used five garlic cloves. And *burp* *hiccup*. It’s 9:00 on Sunday night and my esophagus is goin’ crazy.

Now, let’s grate up the Gruyere.

You know you’ve always wanted to grate up the Gruyere.

Now. I will admit that I grated up, like, an obscene amount of Gruyere; this is about three cups. You can use two cups if you don’t want to be like me.

But if you want to be like me, that’s okay, too. But only as it relates to Gruyere.

Next, you’ll want to slice the turnips really thin. I used a mandoline, but that’s only because my sharp knives were in the dishwasher and I was too lazy to get them out and wash them by hand.

Yes, I put my knives in the dishwasher. I also put my crystal, my wooden spoons, and my dog in the dishwasher.

But only when he really needs a bath.

Good grief, I’m kidding. But only about the dog.

Once you get all the turnips sliced up thinly, add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the skillet over medium-low heat.

Swirl the skillet to coat, then place a single layer of sliced turnips on top of the butter, overlapping the edges.

Next, sprinkle a little of the garlic on top, then—and this is purely optional and really not all that necessary—add a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Next…see those droplets? That’s chicken broth, and I drizzled a healthy splash over the turnips.

After that, I did the same with the cream.

Then I added a healthy layer of Gruyere—probably about a half a cup.

And “healthy layer of Gruyere” could probably be considered a relative term.

I sprinkle on a little salt, but the Gruyere has plenty of salt already in it…so proceed with caution.

I mostly just wanted to show you salt granules mid-air.

I LOVE using my flash! It opens up a whole new world of frozen action.

Don’t tell anyone I said that.

At this point, you have a nice layer of turnips, chicken broth, garlic, butter, and cream. And by now, the bottom should be bubbling nicely. You want that to continue while you’re assembling the rest.

Go ahead and add another layer of sliced turnips and garlic…

And splash on a little broth…

Followed by a little cream.

And I mean it when I say “a little.” I’m NOT trying to kill you, remember?

Next, add another layer of cheese.

And by the way, you can use ANY cheese—or combination thereof—that you wish. Gruyere is special and delicious, but white cheddar, Gorgonzola, or any other cheese would work just splendidly.

Let’s do another layer, just for kicks.

Meanwhile, the pan is bubbling slowly.

A little butter. Totally optional. If you don’t use it, you won’t hurt my feelings.

Don’t forget the splash of broth…

The splash of cream…

And finally, a nice layer of cheese.

And did I mention the cheese?

Finally, sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper. You can also sprinkle on some Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, or whatever else floats your boat. I actually prefer steering clear of strongly-flavored herbs, because I think the flavor of the turnips shines through more.

Now, the beauty of preparing this in an ovenproof skillet is, you just pop the whole thing in the oven. That’s what you call a one-dish Thanksgiving meal.

I do 375 degrees for about twenty minutes, or until the top is hot, brown, and bubbly.

I’m sorry. Did someone say “hot, brown, and bubbly?”

Let me encourage you: if you haven’t entered the world of turnips before, make this for Thanksgiving this year.

Unless you live in Canada. And in that case, you’ll have to make it for Thanksgiving next year.

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322 Comments

301

Raquel On Wednesday, November 19 at 10:53 am

This was a wonderful recipe. I made it over the weekend and it was a BIG hit! Keep ‘em coming!

302

Texnana On Wednesday, November 19 at 10:55 am

We LOVE turnips! I’d always eaten them diced in turnip greens. They add a bit of sweetness. Turnips are best after a touch of frost. Something about a good chill sweetens them up nicely. We have had them mashed with butter and cream for a wonderful low carb substitute for mashed potatoes. My husband wanted to lick the pan. For my gratin, I use a white sauce, made with butter, flour and cream, then stir the cheese into that before layering. Also, a pinch of nutmeg is lovely. Yum! I keep adding sidedishes to my menu! Thanks, PW!

I had hoped to find a printable version so I could put this in the file for next week (yes, I have a file for Thanksgiving).

Looks yummy and my kids have never had a turnip before (and got freaked out when I bought them at the store today).
Ok, back to my search for yummy recipes.

304

Mandy On Friday, November 21 at 5:44 pm

Wait – only 2 turnips in the whole recipe? Turnips are about the size of a tennis ball, so that doesn’t leave a lot of turnip to go around. Your photos show 4. Can you verify how many should be in the recipe? Thanks so much for all your hard work!

305

Ellen On Sunday, November 23 at 1:55 pm

At the risk of flipping a cliche that would sound just too rude, I actually started to salivate…and I was home…alone! Love turnips anyway, but this recipe just pushed (no, shoved) it over the top. Wish I had a better appreciation of my Mom and the kitchen while I was growing up…butter, cream salt, sugar, yada, yada, yada. The good ‘ole days, and we’re still here to appreciate and talk about it. Thanks, Ree…..your CANADIAN friend Ellen

I could really use some measurements for the liquids on the printable recipe. I made it and it’s soooo soupy. I guess my “splash” is way bigger than yours

307

Alex On Wednesday, November 26 at 10:16 pm

I would also like an approximation of the amt of liquids to use…

308

Jennifer F On Friday, November 28 at 9:01 pm

Ree – this recipe is incredible! I love veggies but until the turnip gratin, had never made turnips. It was delicious – probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner!

309

Rach On Thursday, December 4 at 9:58 pm

I made this tonight for our potluck before Bible study. I’ve been drooling over the pictures ever since you posted it. When I bought the turnips, my husband told me the husbands would never eat this dish. So, I passed it off as “gratin” and no one questioned me. Finally, one of the guys said, “these are the best potatoes ever.” No joke! I couldn’t stop laughing and finally fessed up that they were turnips. He then asked if we grew the lettuce for the salad in our yard. It was pretty funny and I think it shocked everyone that they were eating turnips. Thanks for the great, yummo recipe!

310

Buttercup On Monday, January 12 at 8:41 am

I think the garlic made my gratin taste a little…green. Next time I might forego it in favor of garlic powder. It could be a personal problem, though. They were delicious all the same!

311

Beatriz On Friday, February 6 at 1:14 pm

Thanks for this recipe. I made it last night for supper and we all loved it.

312

Tenacwalker On Friday, February 13 at 12:18 pm

There are very few foods I do not like, but…. ummm, I don’t know. Being from the South, my family eats lots of turnip greens, but to me they are so … slimy, yuckky, nasty, looks like a cow’s cud disgusting. Maybe I will like the bottom part better.

I know I’m way behind on commenting. But, Guuurrlll! That stuff made me want to slap my Granny! My resident chef (hubby) made it last night and it was to die for! Even the 15-month old ate ONE bite without spitting it out, which is really hard to come by these days. THANKS!

Just doing a quick search for a Potatoes Anna recipe in my google search engine and what should appear before my eyes but this incredible recipe for turnips gratin. Boy oh boy, Ree, I must say they sure look good. I’m so glad you’re in my search engine!!! I won’t be able to use this recipe link for tomorrow’s Potatoes Anna post. (it’s the inventor’s b-day:) However, I will be passing it on to my daughter who does know she loves turnips. Perhaps she will be able to use it as a “disguise” for my Idaho native grand children who adore potatoes but dislike turnips immensely!!!

Louise On Saturday, November 21 at 6:50 pm

I grew up with mashed carrots and turnips for every special meal. When I was an adult and my parents had been married for over 25 years it finally came up at dinner one night that actually no one liked the dish!

david On Sunday, November 22 at 11:27 pm

Loving this! This is a good recipe for people who can’t eat high-glycemic foods. I use turnips a LOT in place of potatoes. The trick to getting the bitterness out of them is to either put a little cream in the boiling water, or to slow-cook them. This recipe has sort of a mix, but it sounds like it would work!

321

Katherine On Sunday, November 29 at 11:06 am

I made this last night, and it was DELICIOUS! I veganized it, and I had to cook it longer than you said, probably because I don’t have an oven-safe skillet so I didn’t have it cooking on the stove while I assembled it, but it turned out great!

322

Doris On Tuesday, December 1 at 10:17 am

I tried this recipe for Thanksgiving. We might have gotten lost in the “splash of” instructions because ours turned out more like turnip soup!! It was good but the turnips were still very crunchy and we did eat it in a bowl